Our Piece Goes On!
by OtterlyCrete
Summary: A continuation of the anime, starting with the end of episode 13! Sticking to the characters and what I feel would happen after the competition (with some twists, of course). Reina/Kumiko. Rated T just in case. Will probably do as many chapters as I can, as I'm obsessed. *Updated Chapter 2 Posted!
1. Real Gold

**Hiya! This is my first attempt at a Fanfiction, so if you have any suggestions, please comment and let me know! This Fic will start off at the end of Episode 13 of the anime, and continue on as long as I have ideas. I haven't read the light novels or anything, so anything I write probably won't coincide with what happens in those** **suck it Shuichi** **.**

 **Sound! Euphonium doesn't belong to me, or things would be slightly different, yadayada.**

 **Enjoy!**

Kumiko felt sick with nerves. Her stomach was taut, and twisted as she sat on the ground next to Reina, Hazuki-chan, and Midori-chan. After they and the rest of the band had finished playing, they had to wait for the rest of the schools to finish playing before the judges would announce the scores. Kumiko had felt great about their performance at first, but the wait had her second guessing things. What if she had messed up her part, or played it a touch too slow and didn't notice? Taki-sensei had said that if she didn't play it correctly, it would throw off the rest of the band. She felt her stomach tighten even more.

A cool finger prodded her cheek, breaking her from her thoughts and making her jump.

"We did great." The confident words came from her left, the familiar, calm tone making her nerves instantly shrink slightly.

"R-Reina.." Kumiko flicked her amber gaze to meet the burning violet eyes that bored seemingly straight into her soul. Reina had her head held high, and was trying to make Kumiko feel as confident as she did.

"You did that part perfectly, all of your hard practice paid off you know." Reina continued, as if she had been reading the brunette's mind. Kumiko felt her heart swell with gratitude at the kind words, and she thanked Reina with a smile. She knew the dark haired girl wouldn't tell her that unless it was true, and wouldn't lie to her just to make her feel better. Kumiko liked that about Reina. She turned away and took a shaky breath, balling her hands into fists while she willed her confidence from earlier to come back. Her worried expression from before was now replaced by one of determination as she looked at the competition banner.

To her right, Midori-chan's voice brought her out of the trance.

"I'm so nervous…" she whimpered, cupping her face in her hands, eyes closed. Hazuki-chan leaned toward her, looking just as nervous as the curly haired girl, even though she hadn't played with the rest of them.

"I can't take this tension!" she agreed, placing her hands on her own face as well. Kumiko turned away from them, and felt her stomach tighten again, this time with anticipation. She screwed her eyes shut, and brought her clenched hands to her mouth.

 _'Come on, please hurry!'_ She prayed in her mind, wishing the judges would announce the ranks already. If she had to wait any longer, she might just burst.

As if granting that wish, she heard someone call out. It might have been Reina, but she wasn't sure.

"It's coming!" Kumiko's head snapped up, eyes open again as she looked at where the three judges were. They unfurled the banner, letting it roll open over the bannister, revealing the scores. Her eyes flicked over it, searching for her school's name. Around her, other students cheered as they found their own rank, but right now all Kumiko could hear was the quick beating of her heart, which drowned out everyone else. Finally, she found Kitauji's rank, and she stared at it open-mouthed. As if she was moving automatically, she looked over at Reina, whose head was buried in her knees, wanting to confirm that the score was real. Reina slowly lifted her head, looking at the brunette, her violet eyes full of tears.

"Kumiko…" Her voice was choked up slightly with emotion, causing Kumiko to inhale sharply. Her eyes scanned the banner again.

GOLD – Kitauji High School

She read it again. And again.

"Gold.." She murmured aloud, still in slight disbelief. She glanced over at Hazuki and Midori, who were hugging each other tightly in excitement as they cried out in joy. Kumiko continued looking around, her gaze landing on a few of her band mates, who had quieted down to listen to the head judge as he announced who would be going on. This was it, this is what all their work had boiled down to. A dud gold, or a ticket to nationals. Ears strained, she listened intently.

"The schools moving on to the Kansai Competition are…"

Every noise in the concert hall faded away for Kumiko. The gasps around her went unheard. The judge's voice disappeared entirely as he continued with the other school names. Even her heartbeat was silent to her this time as she processed what was said. As all of her band mates processed what was said.

Suddenly, Kumiko was pushed sideways slightly as Reina threw her arms around her, once again breaking her from her trance, bringing back all the noise with her. She quickly regained her balance and grasped the raven haired girl's hand, threading their fingers together. If she had been in disbelief before, it was nothing compared to the pleasant shock she felt now. They had gotten a real Gold! They were going to nationals!

Reina squeezed her hand, and Kumiko squeezed it back in response. This wasn't like back in middle school where the two girls' band had only gotten a dud gold. This was the real deal. Kumiko had come to Kitauji to start fresh, and she truly has. This victory was the perfect way to solidify that start.

As Kumiko and her friends boarded the bus back to school, she felt like she was walking on air. It wasn't only Reina who held her head high now, it was all of the Kitauji Concert Band. She sat down next to Reina, who had picked out a seat towards the back, Hazuki and Midori sitting in the seat in front of them. All around them, excited chittering could be heard as all the students talked amongst each other. However, there was only one person who Kumiko was really paying attention to.

"So, Kumiko." Reina said nonchalantly, turning her gaze away from the window and towards her seat-mate. "How long are we going to hold hands like this?" In the midst of all the excitement, they had kept their hands intertwined, forgotten, up until this moment.

"KYAH!" Kumiko felt her face flush, and even the tips of her ears went pink. Now that she thought about it, they had even taken a picture in front of the concert hall with their certificate and trophy. Their hands hadn't been visible to the camera, she was certain, but that didn't mean that nobody had noticed. Or that they wouldn't notice that they had walked around together hand in hand. In fact, it was probably very noticeable. _'My face could probably fry an egg right now it's so warm.'_ She quickly brushed the thought away; now was not the time to think about her favourite food. "I'm sorry!" She tried letting go, but was unable to due to Reina's death grip. This, of course, caused her blush to darken. She looked at her quizzically. "Reina?"

"Just a little longer." She replied, an expression that couldn't be placed on her face. Kumiko's gaze softened slightly.

"O-okay." Kumiko obliged with a shy nod, her blush darker than ever. She slowly tightened her fingers back in place, and tried to avoid looking into Reina's eyes. After a few moments, Kumiko calmed down and her blush faded away. Soon enough, a contented sigh slipped out of both of them, causing them to look at each other. Kumiko laughed the same laugh from earlier on the train after their elbow war, while Reina smiled warmly. They both dropped the other's hand.

"We did it." Kumiko filled the peaceful silence that followed, not really directing the comment to anyone in particular, but knowing that Reina would respond. She kept her gaze to the seat in front of her, watching bemusedly as one of Midori's curls that was visible over the seat bounced with the movements of the bus.

"I told you we did great." Reina nodded, flicking her gaze towards the brunette. She paused. "Kumiko." Her tone changed as she said the name, demanding the attention of the girl next to her, but at the same time, it was uncertain. The brunette's amber eyes immediately turned to the violet ones staring at her.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think I'm special?" She asked quietly. Kumiko's eyes widened at the question, surprised. In fact, the question made her a little upset. Didn't they go over this at the audition?

"Everyone knows how good you are, they heard you play at the audition, and now we got gold. To be honest, I don't think we could have gotten a real gold if Kaori-senpai did the solo." She replied.

"Kumiko, that's not what I asked. I know I did better in the solo. I'm asking if _you_ think I'm special." She fidgeted a little bit. Kumiko made a little 'o' with her mouth. It was her turn to fidget.

"Yeah, I do. You've always been special." She said softly, flicking her eyes away before continuing. "To me, anyways." She played with the good luck charm that Hazuki, Natsuki-senpai, and the others had made for her unconsciously, tracing her initials. Reina's cheeks were dusted with a rosy pink, and she quickly turned back to the window before Kumiko could see, even though her own cheeks were also flushed.

"Good." She murmured. The bus came to a stop, and she realized they were in front of the school. A movement towards the front of the bus caught everyone's attention; Taki-sensei stood up and clapped his hands together twice.

"Okay everybody, I just want to say a few things before we get off. You all did amazing, and deserved that Gold. However, we will need to continue to work hard if we want to do well at nationals. I think that if we put forth the same effort we did before this competition towards nationals, we can win." He paused, for effect, letting it sink in. A few whispers were heard, but stopped as he continued. "Trombones. Tsukamoto-san in particular." Shuichi gulped and looked at the young director nervously. "You did that part very well, good job. Kousaka-san." Shuichi let out a sigh of relief, causing a few people near him to chuckle. Reina picked her head up slightly to look over the seat better as her name was called. "Your solo was improved since the audition, and you did very well; good job. Oumae-san." Kumiko thought she saw Reina's smile turn a little smug, but it was gone in an instant so she wasn't sure. She felt her stomach drop at her name, but Reina elbowed her in the side softly, reminding her of what she said earlier. "I didn't forget that you told me you could play that part, and you proved it. Good job." He smiled his awkward little smile. Hazuki and Midori looked behind them at the brunette, both giving her a grin and thumbs up in agreement. Kumiko felt her cheeks redden slightly at the attention, and smiled her thanks to her friends.

"Now, everyone, I want the students in charge of moving instruments to round up a few people to help you put them away; as for the rest of you, I'll see you at practice, and have a safe trip home." With that, he got off the bus and went inside, presumably up to his desk. Everyone got up and started filing off the bus, a few stopping to ask others to help bring instruments inside. Shuichi came over, about to ask Kumiko, but then changed his mind when thinking of what happened after the competition. He asked Hazuki instead, and she went slightly pink before turning to Kumiko and Midori and apologizing. They had made plans earlier to go and get a shake on the way home.

"I'll talk to you guys tomorrow!" She promised. "We can get shakes then!" With that, she and Shuichi were gone. Kumiko sighed in slight relief; she hadn't wanted Shuichi to ask her. The rest of them weren't apart of the instrument moving group, and nobody else come up to ask them to help, so Kumiko, Midori, and Reina headed home together.

When they got to the train station they parted from Midori-chan, as she rode a different train than Kumiko and Reina. Before she left, Midori gave a knowing look to Kumiko, along with a sly grin.

"Don't have too much fun; bye you guys!" She whispered the first part to Kumiko before saying goodbye to both of them, the doors of her train, as well as any window of opportunity for Kumiko to reply, closing behind her. The brunette stared after the train as it pulled away. _'What did she mean by that?'_ She continued staring before realizing that she was probably referring to her and Reina holding hands, and her mouth dropped open, cheeks flushed. She stayed that way for a few minutes, and if not for Reina, would have missed their train. The dark haired girl grabbed Kumiko's elbow and tugged it, causing her to jolt out of her thoughts.

"Kumiko, come on, the train's about to leave." She waved a hand in front of the amber eyes in front of her.

"R-right, sorry!" Kumiko hurried and sat down in the compartment, Reina following suit. Her violet eyes stared at her quizzically.

"What did Kawashima-san say to you?" She asked, an eyebrow raised. Kumiko felt her cheeks redden.

"N-n-nothing! Midori-chan didn't say anything!" Her hand waved back and forth in front of her quickly, hoping Reina would drop the subject. Needless to say, she didn't.

"Come on, she must have said something." Reina stared at Kumiko, her eyes demanding that she tell her. However, Kumiko held her ground for once, as hard as it was. Reina always won things like this, and when she noticed Kumiko wasn't going to say anything, she pouted. "Fine, I won't tell you what she told me when you were in the restroom." This caused Kumiko's eyes to widen, and her curiosity was piqued.

"Reiiinaaa." She complained, drawing out the syllables of the girl's name. The raven haired girl shook her head.

"I'm not telling you unless you tell me what she just said." Kumiko thought about this. Figuring that Reina only wanted to trick her into saying by getting her curious, she continued holding her ground.

"She didn't say anything." She repeated, though her voice was less stubborn this time. Reina's smile of triumph faded into a frown. She had thought that Kumiko would want to know.

"You're terrible." She sniffed, mockingly upset. Kumiko grinned, glad that she was dropping it. The train stopped at their stop, and they walked out of the station together.

"So, Reina, Taki-sensei looked pretty pleased with your solo." The brunette teased with a wink, breaking the short silence. The dark haired girl stopped in her tracks and stared back. The reaction caused Kumiko's smile to falter; she had expected her to have that smug smile she thought she saw earlier, but that was not the case.

"Kumiko." The hard tone had her even more confused. She backpedaled, worried that she had upset Reina quite a bit.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't say it to be mean, I was just joking around, and I know you said it was embarrassing, I just didn't think you would take it this way and-" Reina shook her head and placed her hand over Kumiko's mouth to stop her from talking.

"You're rambling." She took her hand back. "What kind of love did you think I meant when I told you I loved Taki-sensei?" Her question caught Kumiko by surprise, yet again. Kumiko's brow furrowed.

"Like, romantically." Kumiko was still confused; she didn't understand just what the point was that Reina was trying to make. With a shake of her head, Reina completely had Kumiko baffled.

"No, Kumiko, that's not how I meant it at all. He's quite a bit older for one, and for two, I'm into someone else. The love I have for Taki-sensei is more of an admiration. He's an amazing instructor. I mean, he took Kitauji from a _bronze_ all the way to Nationals within a year!" With such an explanation, Kumiko understood now. All this time, she thought she was head over heels for the guy, when in reality she just admired his work. A part of her was relieved, another was extremely curious about who she liked, and yet another was something she couldn't place; it wasn't positive, whatever it was.

"I'm sorry, I completely misunderstood you this whole time!" She placed her hands together and bowed her head in apology. Reina started walking again, and Kumiko followed her.

"It's okay, I suppose I should've clarified earlier." She nodded. Before Kumiko even knew what she was saying, she asked what she had been wondering.

"Who do you like then?" Her eyes widened as she realized what she said. "I mean, you don't have to say if you don't want to or anything." She tacked on, hoping Reina wouldn't get upset again. Those violet eyes turned to her, containing the same expression Kumiko couldn't place from before when she asked to continue holding hands.

"I'll tell you another time." She replied finally, with a slight edge of exasperation to her voice that went unnoticed by Kumiko, who frowned slightly. The part of her that felt something she couldn't place was now most of what she was feeling right now. She nodded.

"Okay, sounds like a plan." Kumiko stopped; they were already at the crosswalk where they would part ways to go to their houses. "Next time?" She asked hopefully. She knew she was being pushy, but she couldn't help it. She was dying to know who Reina liked. Said girl rolled her eyes, but seriously pondered the question for a few minutes.

"We'll see." She said softly, her eyes searching for something in Kumiko's amber gaze. "Text me when you make it home please; you do have your phone this time, right?" She continued in her normal, calm tone. Kumiko squirmed slightly.

"Yeah, I will, I have it this time. You text me when you get home too." She replied, offering an apologetic smile. Reina smiled back and nodded.

"Will do."


	2. Interrupted

A blaring alarm went off next to Kumiko's head, and she reached her arm out lazily to push the off button, effectively silencing it. She lay there for a moment staring at her ceiling, going over and over in her mind what had happened yesterday at the competition. Last night when she had gotten home, she told her mom, who insisted on having a celebration and wanted her daughter to invite her friends. Kumiko was all for having them over, but the thought made her slightly nervous. Hazuki-chan and Midori-chan hadn't been to her house before, and neither had Reina.

 _'Reina, oh goodness'_. Kumiko couldn't get over the fact that they had been holding hands for probably a good half hour. And that she hadn't noticed. Just thinking about it had her face flushed; it had felt so natural, what with all the emotions going on at the time, but it was almost as if Reina's hand was an extension of her own, which made her feel conflicted. On one hand, she knew they were super close friends, while on the other there was something nagging at her that there was something else. She just wasn't sure what it was yet.

While she was having these thoughts, she was getting ready; even though the competition was over, they still had practice for the next competition to worry about. They would have to choose new pieces, which meant a bunch of sight reading. Kumiko tied the little sailor-type bandanna around the neck of the uniform that she loved so much, and looked in the mirror. Her hair was all combed into place, the curly ends framing her face just so. She thought about putting her hair up, but shrugged. She couldn't be bothered to.

Kumiko stepped out of her room, running almost smackdab into her sister.

"Sorry.." She murmured, and attempted to sidestep around Mamiko to get to the kitchen. Only, she was stopped by her sister's arm shooting out and blocking her.

"I heard you guys are heading to the Kansai Competition." Her sister was now in front of her, and there wasn't any space to get around her.

"Y-yeah, we did extremely well, and I'm proud of us." Her tone was a bit defensive. Kumiko braced herself for what her sister might say; she knew that Kumiko liked the euphonium now, but they hadn't really spoken since she had confronted her sister about it.

"I can tell; keep up the good work." With those simple words, Mamiko went back inside her room, leaving a slightly shocked Kumiko standing in the hallway. The red head hadn't expected those words from her sister. She couldn't help but have a little spring in her step now, and entered the kitchen with a small smile on her face.

After grabbing her bento and a slice of toast to eat on the way to the station, she headed out. To her surprise, she saw a familiar figure waiting at the crosswalk, her long dark hair moving slightly in the breeze.

"Reina?" Kumiko called out, her tone revealing the pleasant surprise she felt. The raven haired girl turned toward her and gave a small wave. Kumiko smiled, and realized she still had crumbs on her face and uniform. She quickly brushed them off, and used a small handkerchief to wipe her face, which was now red in embarrassment.

"Good morning Kumiko; I thought we could go to practice together. Didn't you get my text?" She asked, crossing her arms in front of her. Kumiko's amber eyes widened a bit as she hurried and pulled out her phone; she had been too preoccupied to look at it this morning. Sure enough, there was a message from her.

"Good morning; sorry, I didn't notice." She said sheepishly, an apologetic smile on her face. "We can walk together, that would be nice. I hope you weren't waiting too long, though?" She continued, adjusting the grip on her bag. Reina shook her head.

"No, I only got here a few minutes ago." The beads of sweat forming on her brow gave away her lie, but Kumiko let it slide, even though she felt bad. She would have to make it up to her; no one should wait around in this heat. Reina started walking, and Kumiko hurried to catch up before matching the pace of the girl next to her. She suddenly remembered what her mom said.

"Reina, what are you doing on Friday after practice?" She took a nonchalant tone, walking with her hands behind her back. Reina raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing, why?" Her reply had Kumiko's mouth turning up at the corners.

"My mom wanted to throw a party since we won at the competition yesterday, and said I could invite a few friends." She paused, her nerves coming back. "So, I was wondering if, you know, if you wanted to come?" She asked tentatively, glancing at Reina from the corner of her eye. Her violet eyes were contemplative.

"Are you inviting Tsukamoto-san?" The dark haired girl's response had Kumiko confused, and she turned to look at Reina's face to see her expression. It was carefully masked, and she couldn't read it. However, she answered her question anyways.

"Shuichi? Mom probably expects him to be invited, but I wasn't going to." She finally said, still watching Reina. "I don't really want him there." She blurted out, though she hadn't meant to. A hand reached up and covered her mouth in embarrassment, but she knew Reina wouldn't judge her for the statement and dropped it back to her side. Those violet eyes closed briefly, and when they opened there was a small, almost indiscernible smile gracing her features.

"I'll be there. Do you want me to bring anything?" She sounded almost relieved, but Kumiko wasn't sure why.

"No, that's okay, you don't have to bring anything." She paused, suddenly having an idea. "Actually, bring your trumpet!" Reina raised an eyebrow at this, but nodded. Kumiko sounded excited, so she must have something planned.

The two girls arrived at the school and walked straight up to the band room. Even though it was summer break, they still had to move the desks in and out of the room. There were already a few other first years there, including Hazuki-chan and Midori-chan, who grinned at each other when they saw Kumiko and Reina enter the room together, then waved to them. The former blushed slightly, and made a mental note to talk to them about Reina after practice. She also noticed that Shuichi kept stealing glances at them.

"Hazuki…" She grumbled to herself. Though, she supposed it was to be expected considering what had happened. To her surprise though, he was also stealing glances at Hazuki, who turned pink every time she caught his eye. Kumiko would have to ask about that later as well.

Pretty soon all the desks were in the hall, and the upperclassmen started showing up. Everyone helped arranged the chairs, and then began tuning their instruments. Haruka stood up on the podium, and addressed the rest of the band.

"Guys, I'm so proud of us, and glad that we were able to perform the way we did. Like Taki-sensei said, if we can get gold in that competition, we can easily continue to work hard and maybe even win the next one!" She smiled. Looking over at the clarinets, she nodded her head, signaling the girl to play the tuning note. The soft note rang out, and section by section the rest of the band joined in, adjusting their tuning when necessary. Within seconds, a rich, full sound vibrated throughout the room. Haruka raised her hand and cut them off, satisfied. "Okay, we're going to break up into sections, and then meet back here at the usual time for ensemble." With that, everyone packed up and went to their assigned rooms.

In the bass room, Kumiko felt like she was a very special specimen being looked at under a microscope by multiple mad scientists. To say she felt uncomfortable was an understatement. Hazuki and Midori kept giggling, while Gotou-senpai and his girlfriend Riko-senpai kept giving her understanding smiles. Even Natsuki-senpai kept giving Kumiko sly sidelong glances. Kumiko wanted to tell them that the whole hand-holding thing wasn't how it seemed, but she wasn't sure how to say it, so she just wriggled and squirmed uncomfortably under their looks, face burning. Asuka-senpai, however, was a different story. At first, she just smirked and said things like "Oumae-chan, are you sure you're in the right section?" or "Oumae-chan, maybe we should practice with the trumpets every once in a while. Do a combined sectional." But after a while she started getting upset that all of the interruptions were getting in the way of practice. Suddenly, she stood up and let out a frustrated sigh.

"All this nonsense better be talked through and done with by the time I get back; I'm going to go practice on my own for a bit." She picked up her sheet music and stalked off. Gotou-senpai and Riko-senpai let out the breath they had been holding after she passed the doorframe.

"Let's take a 5 minute break, then continue.. Come on Nagase, Nakagawa-san, let's go out in the hall for a few minutes and clean our mouthpieces.." Gotou's voice rumbled uncomfortably, obviously trying to let the other three girls have some space. They nodded and followed him out, glancing back every few feet before they too disappeared. Like moths to a flame, Hazuki and Midori immediately cornered the poor Euphonium player.

"So you were serious when you said that you didn't have any feelings for Shuichi-kun!" Hazuki blurted out first, followed shortly after by Midori.

"How come you didn't tell us you liked Kousaka-san? I mean, we're your friends, we will support you no matter what!" She said in that cute voice of hers, her tawny eyes wide with determination. Kumiko felt like her face was going to melt off it burned so hot.

"Ah, it's really not-" Poor Kumiko couldn't get a word in edgewise. Hazuki cut in again, effectively silencing the red head.

"It all makes sense now! You were always staring at Kousaka-san, ever since she walked in that first day!" She said, nodding enthusiastically. Midori raised her hand as if she was waiting to be called on by the teacher.

"That's true! I see you looking at her when you think she's not looking all the time! And Kousaka-san looks back at you when you're not looking as well!" She confirmed, placing her arm back down to her side.

"Guys! It's really not like that!" The red head exclaimed, causing her two friends to glance at each other, surprised. "Reina is my really good friend, and-" Wait. Reina stares at her when she's not looking? What Midori said finally started to sink in to Kumiko's head. Why would Reina stare at her? Was she playing wrong? Was she still secretly upset at what was said in Middle school? No, that wasn't it. But if not that, what? Kumiko's mind raced, blocking out whatever Midori and Hazuki were saying. It wasn't until a hand waved erratically in front of her face that she was torn from her thoughts.

"Ku-mi-ko! Oi! Kumiko! Didn't you hear that flutist? They're calling ensemble early, we need to go!" Hazuki grabbed onto her shoulder, shaking it just a little.

"O-oh, okay! Sorry!" She jumped up, nearly tipping over her stand in the process, but managing to catch the bottom with her foot to keep it in place. Midori and Hazuki looked at each other, slightly confused at Kumiko's actions, but not wanting to upset her further.

"I'll tell everyone else to cool it with all the rumors, and I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions without talking to you first." Hazuki said, patting the red head's shoulder and making her way to the door, tuba in tow. Midori stayed back for a moment, making sure the bubbly girl was out of earshot before turning to Kumiko.

"I'm sorry too, but it is true that you two stare at each other a lot. And yesterday when you were in the bathroom I talked to Reina a bit… but maybe you two should be the ones talking. Anyway, we're going to be late, let's go." Kumiko was even more confused now. What did she do to upset Reina this time? She looked to the ceiling before sighing and following the shorter girl.

The rest of practice went okay, with minimal glances being shot their way. Of course, Kumiko didn't notice any of them anyways, as she was too busy being preoccupied with her worried thoughts. She didn't just glance at Reina; she stared. She didn't want to miss a single glance that the dark haired girl would throw her way. However, every time Reina would turn her head to look at her, Kumiko would cast her eyes down to her music, avoiding eye contact.

At the end of practice, Kumiko was putting her music away when a slight shadow appeared over her shoulder. She turned to see none other than the violet eyed girl herself, causing her to jump.

"Kumiko, we need to talk." She murmured. The euphonium player gulped and nodded, slowly standing up to follow Reina, her stomach filled with nerves.

The trumpet player led her outside, walking to the secluded spot where she apologized to Kumiko for the way she had gotten upset at her and Shuichi. She stopped and faced Kumiko, seemingly composing herself for a moment before she began speak. Before she did, however, the red head started babbling.

"Reina, I'm sorry if I did anything wrong, and if I did, can you please tell me what it is? Midori said you're always staring at me, which, I stare at you too, but that's because it's hard for me to tell what you're thinking sometimes, and I don't even really notice I'm staring at you until it's been a few seconds, and I know I shouldn't do that, but I can't really help it most of the time, because you are really pretty, and you inspire me to be bet-" A hand covered her mouth, stopping her rambles.

"Kumiko, I'm not upset with you. You were acting weird during practice so I thought you were upset because of what happened yesterday and how everyone is talking about it, so I brought you out here to apologize for being selfish and not informing you earlier." Reina dropped her hand from Kumiko's mouth, satisfied now that she had finished her apology. Kumiko formed a small "o" with her mouth, and shook her head.

"I'm not upset with you at all. Though, I did notice everyone looking at us funny when we walked in this morning. Hazuki said she would tell them to stop…" Kumiko cut off slowly once she realized how close they were. Reina had kind of stepped closer when she put her hand over the red head's mouth, but Kumiko had forgotten how close they were until just now. She could see the tiny flecks of light purple in Reina's eyes, and her own amber gaze glanced to the pale girl's lips involuntarily before returning to search the violet ones a few inches away. "Reina..?" She mumbled, having lost track of what she was saying, and it seemed as if the girl in front of her wasn't going to speak any time soon either.

"There you two are! Kumiko, we're supposed to get shakes today on the way home, remember?" The two girls sprung apart, surprised as Hazuki and Midori came running over, oblivious to the mood that had settled over the two before they arrived. The red head glanced at Reina, catching the end of another look she hadn't seen on the trumpet player's face before. Disappointment? Relief? She wasn't sure.

"R-right, let's go. Reina, do you want to come?" She asked, though she didn't exactly look her in the eye; her face was flushed with embarrassment, and her heart was beating out of her chest. Weird.

"I think I'll pass, I've got to do some stuff at home. I'll see you Friday though." She replied, a small smile on her face. Kumiko did meet her eyes then, surprised and slightly disappointed. She bobbed her head anyways. The dark haired girl's words gave her a reminder that she hadn't invited Hazuki and Midori yet; she made a mental note to ask them at the shake place.

"Alright, sounds good, I'll see you then. Have a safe trip home."

"Thanks, you too."

 **Ahhh, hopefully this is a bit better than before! I can't remember how I was originally going to write it, but hopefully this is fine.**


	3. Update! Chapter 2 Edit up!

**Hey guys!**

 **Sorry for the story going on practically a year-long hiatus; I wasn't really happy with how the story progressed, especially since in chapter two I did write them a bit out of character, so I stopped writing aha. So, I'm sorry to say I won't be posting the chapter four.**

 **However! I** ** _will_** **be re-writing chapter two, and then continuing from there! I won't be rewriting the whole chapter, and I will probably keep parts of the current story line, but I will be changing where I feel I went out of character, because I do want to finish this fic, and there are still random follows/favs/etc rolling in every once in a while.**

 **So! Here's to editing old chapters so we can press forward!**

Thanks,

Crete

EDIT: The new chapter 2 is up!


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